Resolutions MMXI

PSYCH!

Yes, I went there.

I don't really make New Year's Resolutions because I'm notoriously bad at:
a) not sticking with them,
b) making unrealistic ones, and
c) changing my mind at 12:01 on New Year's Day (morning).

So no resolutions from me. Maybe some goals for this year will be to maintain my GPA, raise Camille well enough so she lives to see her first birthday, and eat healthier. But I think those have been resolutions pretty much every year (sans the one about Camille), so yeah.

Jake and I are about to be on our way to a friend's house, where we will commence playing games, getting drunk, and playing games drunk. Camille will be there but will not be drinking. She's the DD.

Operation Tasty Secret

My bestest friend Tanya came out to the Frozen North to visit me for New Year's. YAAAAAY!!

Tanya's birthday is in a week and a half. Tanya loves cake. So I figured I'd get her a cake as a surprise birthday present. I know; I'm awesome.

Since I like to name things fake military operations names, and because it was a secret, I called the cake buying and picking-up Operation Tasty Secret.

I don't think anyone knew about that name but me.  =/

So after I busted out the cake and surprised Tanya, we decided to not eat the cake immediately but instead keep it until after we got back from visiting Temple Square to see the pretty lights.

And see them we did. And it was hella cold. But pretty.

Baby Jesus makes Jake sad.

Christmas lights make Jake sad.

Face.

Face.

Teeth.

Get out of my way, lollygagging tourists!

And here is the awesome subject of Operation Tasty Secret!

Derp!

Shiney!

Now we're eating cake and watching Modern Family. This show is awesome.

One of us may or may not be blogging. It's impossible to say.

Gender Test Rundown

I didn't find out Camille's gender while she was in utero; I waited until she was born. A lot of people were like "WTF" but I thought it was more fun. Everyone I met tried to guess based on old wives' tales (most of them were wrong). I took one or two of those gender prediction online tests for fun, and have since forgotten what the results were. I thought it would be fun to go through some of the more popular ones, enter in my info, and see if they would have been right!

I know, I'm a dork with nothing to do. Camille's asleep.

ChildBirth.org - girl
Chinese Gender Chart - boy
Wives Tales and Myths - girl

According to some wives' tales (not really older because ultrasound technology is newer than many of those old wives and their tales), a heartbeat above 140 bpm means it's a girl, below 140 bpm means it's a boy. Camille's was always around 150 whenever I went in for my checkups. Right!

I carried low, which is supposed to be indicative of a boy. RAWNG!

Sweet vs Sour: sweet means girl, sour means boy. I definitely craved sweets and more sweets while I was pregnant. I wanted sour stuff too, but not at the same magnitude. Also, it was really hard for me to find stuff that was sour enough. Sourpatch Kids? Whatever.

Supposedly if you gain weight in your face, it's a girl. I don't think I gained weight in my face. So bam!

So there we go... the old wives' tales are true... and also not true. The only 100% guaranteed method to know the baby's sex is to look at their little naughty bits after they're born!

Camille's Picture Face

Some people have a "picture face." They make the exact same face every time they get a photo taken. Camille has already developed a picture face, and let me tell ya, it's pretty funny.

She'll be smiling or something until I press the capture button on the camera. Then in an instant, she goes from  :-)  to  8-| .  Little turd.

Three Months Old

This should have been done yesterday, but I was still getting to know my new computer... MacBook! It was my Christmas prezzie from Jake. He's the best!

OMG! Three months! That means she's no longer a newborn; she's graduated to infant.  O_o

This month, Camille has learned how to chew on her hands, suck on all her fingers (including her thumb), and can aaalllllmost roll over. She sticks her legs straight up in the air and then lets them fall to the side and bring her body with them. She'd roll all the way if her arms didn't impede her progress. Damn arms!

Around the 2-minute mark, I start talking to Jake about

random stuff. All the cuteness happens before then, anyway.

Feel free to ignore me.

She's learning to sleep with a lovey (Jake calls it a muneca the n should have the little squiggle above it but I don't know how to do that on a Mac yet). It's a little stuffed bunny (Mr. Bunbun) that I crocheted (and it was way easy to do so nobody get impressed!). It will help when she's sleeping in her own bed and she wakes up in the middle of the night. Instead of flipping out, she can be like, "AHOMGWHEREAM... oh, Mr. Bunbun is here. I guess everything is OK and I can go back to sleep without needing my parents to comfort me ZZZzzzzzz..."

Ideally, anyway.

She likes to sleep with it on her face.

I didn't put it there. Swearsies. And yeah, I know she's wearing Halloween jammies. I don't care. They're cute and warm and they still fit. She'll wear them until they don't fit anymore!

Christmas Fun!

Christmas morning under the tree!

Squishing all the presents.

Camille's cousins, Londyn (in the Santa suit) and Cash.

Camille and Londyn with Grandma!

More Camille and Londyn with Grandma.

We tried in vain to get a picture of all three cousins together, but it wasn't meant to be. One was sleeping or eating or crying while the other two were cooperative. Oh well. We have a week or so to get together again and give it another try!

Happy Holidays!

Downsizing?

What am I downsizing? Here's a hint: it's not my ass!

I'm considering consolidating all of my blogs and incorporating them all into GoTeamBoobies!. I have like... 5 different blogs. I have a problem and I'm working on it!

The goofy thing about my various different blogs is that anything of true import that occurs on a blog other than GTB gets linked here anyway. So I'm doing twice the work. If I'd just mash them all together, I'd only have to post this stuff once.

OK. I talked me into it. It's settled. My 234845687234 different blogs shall henceforth be all incorporated into this one. Standby for messy blog-mashing.

Oh yeah, I totally forgot to blog about Camille's second round of shot (singular) on Thursday.

Some of you may have guessed by now that I'm not a fan of the current vaccination schedule. I mean, six shots all at once? To a baby? I got a vaccination cocktail at Basic Training and it knocked me on my ass for a couple of days, and I'm a healthy adult with a strong immune system. Babies' immune systems are still revving up, and loading them full of vaccinations really does a number on them.

I won't go into it. I don't want to get preachy.

Long, ranty story short, Jake and I are getting Camille's vaccinations one shot at a time. She got her first Hep B at the hospital, her second Hep B last week, and her pneumococcal conjugate on Thursday.

I'm taking the "one at a time" approach because I believe getting her vaccinated is important, but I don't want to pump her full of half a dozen at a time. One at a time means her immature little immune system has an easier time assimilating and handling the vaccination, and she will still have enough immune system left over to fight any real illness that happens her way. Also, if she has any kind of allergic reaction to the vaccine, we'll know exactly which vaccine it was. Knowledge is power!

Kickin' it old school (house rock).

Jake went with me again. Next week, he won't be able to. :(((((((((((

I cry more than Camille does. Needle in, needle out, 10 seconds of crying, and she's satisfied with the binky. Meanwhile, I'm standing in the corner with my face covered so no one will see me bawling and think I'm some kind of mental case. I think what made it sooooo tragic was that she was smiling and having a great time before the nurse arrived with the needle. I was like, "IF ONLY SHE KNEW WHAT WAS COMING!!!! SHE WOULDN'T BE SMILING!!"

Boo boo #2.

Reptar Band-aid. Yesssssssss.

P.S., I love the word "henceforth," especially when used in conjunction with the word "shall."

The Muppets are Relevant, I Promise

Whenever I hear the song "Celebration," I think of Muppets, and that video is why. If you don't think the Muppets are awesome, then GTFO.

The reason for the celebratin' is my GPA... still a 4.0! I just got my grades back for this semester and I got A's. YAAAAAAY! It's not like I had a particularly difficult or heavy load (Communication and Nutrition... both online courses) but still, I'm excited. I always blow really hard classes away and totally screw up really easy classes. That's how I do. I was seriously convinced that I was going to get a B in Communication because I thought it was such a stupid bullshit class and I put no effort into it.

None.

Zero.

That much ------>

(nothing)

Oh yeah, I also had a baby halfway through the semester. That's another reason why I'm really stoked I got the grades I did. :P

Next semester might not be so easy. Human Physiology, Chemistry, and Math for Health Majors. I understand that the Math class is 97% "how many ounces are in a cup?" etc, but there are also logarithms and I have no idea how to logarithmize. In case you haven't heard, math is the devil.

Nicely put, Internet picture.

New Laugh

I just took video of Camille laughing when Jake raspberried her tummy. Her laugh has evolved from her wheezy hiccup to a real identifiable laugh. Awesome!

Apologies for the dim light. I didn't have time to set up the ambiance!

Weird?

Today marks one year since I've had a period. HOORAY! I don't miss it. Celebrations are in order!

The Diarrhea Chronicles - Volume 2

Longtime readers may recall a post I wrote several months ago chronicling my dog's intense and explosive diarrhea.

Well, the diarrhea has returned. But this time, I'm not simply pregnant getting up at all hours of the night to walk around in the snow so Sophie can pee out of her butt (yes, that's what it looks like); I'm the sleep-deprived mother of a breastfed two-month-old infant AND I'm getting up at all hours of the night to walk around in the snow, etc. On top of all that, Jake and I both have the flu or something flu-esque. It's on the decline, but getting no more than an hour at a time of sleep at night isn't going to help any.

Jake gets up sometimes to take her out, but he doesn't even hear her pathetic little poo-cry in the middle of the night, and I do. The only time I wake him up to let her out is if she happens to whine when I'm feeding Camille. I can't exactly tell Camille to hold on for a minute, mommy has to take the dog out to crap. And Sophie is potty trained, but we all know that no matter how powerful your sphincter is, diarrhea bad enough can overcome. She can hold it for a good long time, but will eventually reach a bursting point. I'd rather not have to scrub that burst up off the carpet, so I wake Jake up and he takes her out.

To top it off, this round of diarrhea is accompanied by vomiting. The cure for the diarrhea last time was a week's worth of antibiotics from the vet and a change to medicated sensitive-tummy dog food. She's still eating the medicated stuff, and has diarrhea anyway. I don't know how much more medicated we can get before she's just eating a handful of pills for breakfast. I made an appointment with the vet for tomorrow (I needed to go get more heartworm medication, anyway), but I don't know what to hope for this time.

We determined last time that Sophie's intestinal upsets had been triggered by the drive from Florida to Utah in January. The stress of the move caused diarrhea, and she got a bout of bad bacteria in her gut, which caused further diarrhea beyond the stress-caused kind. The antibiotics fixed the bad bacteria, some probiotics helped good bacteria grow back, and the switch to gentler dog food helped her sensitive tummy resist future bad bacteria outbreaks. It was all fine for a while, too, but now... Now, I have to let her out every 2-3 hours or she'll poop on the floor (twice, and right next to the Christmas tree).

I suspect that her diarrhea is stress-induced once more, and that the stress-causing agent is Camille.

Dun dun DUNNNNN

Unfortunately for Sophie, I can't get rid of her stressor this time. Also unfortunately for Sophie, I can't afford to keep taking her to the vet. I also can't keep waking up at night (more than I already am) and taking her out to poop. I can keep cleaning poo off the carpet, but I choose not to.

The vet will probably give us the same antibiotics as last time, and I hope they work. If the pills don't work, Sophie is doomed to a life of diaper-wearing.

Baby's Boo Boo

We just got back from the pediatrician's and experienced Camille's first shot since she left the hospital. I'm soooo glad Jake came with me. If he hadn't, I'd probably still be there, crying and apologizing to Camille.

We got her growth charts today, and she's pretty much right in the middle of the percentages.

11 lbs 13 oz
22 1/4 inches long
38 1/4 head circumference

According to the doc, we should keep doing what we've been doing. Yessssssss.

The doc left and the nurse came in. She gave Camille permission to hate her until she reached 5 years of age, then she stuck her with the needle (we decided to go with Hep B because Tanya made me scared of baby rapists). The nurse was so fast that Camille didn't even start crying until the needle was already out and in the sharps container. Then she started screaming. It was a cry unlike any cry she's made before. I know what her "I'm wet" cry, "I'm hungry" cry, and "I spit my binky out" cry is like, and now I know what her "owieowieowie" cry is like.

She howled pretty loud for about 15 seconds, followed by about 10 seconds of a less-intense cry, followed by about 5 seconds of her normal uncomfortable cry, and then she was quiet. She had intermittent little wails, but mostly she was done crying after a minute.

I, on the other hand, am still leaking tears.

Here are some pics of her since we got home from this traumatic ordeal.

Zzzzz...

....zzzzzzz....

Boo boo. :(

I keep checking to make sure she's breathing, since I'm convinced she's having an adverse reaction to the shot and that's why she's so quiet.

I didn't give her baby Tylenol or anything to help with the pain, since I'm an advocate of suckin' it up. Well, I'm usually an advocate of suckin' it up. Today, I suggested to Jake that we go get her some baby Tylenol and he reminded me of my suckin'-it-up philosophy. Oh yeah, suckin' it up... that's right. OK, no baby Tylenol. I guess.  :(

I also didn't feed her after the shot. I don't want to teach her that food is a comfort when she's feeling down (or in pain). Psychologically, I think there's such a fatty fatty fat fat epidemic in the US because we pop a bottle in our babies' mouths when they're upset, or because we use food as a reward, etc (she will receive no sucker when she's older and she gets shots! A sticker is fine). I find myself gravitating toward chocolate cake when I'm not feeling great (like today! I need some cake!), and I know it's bad but I can't help it. I don't eat chocolate cake every time I'm upset, but man do I want to.

She probably wouldn't have eaten even if I'd offered her anything. She was too busy yelling, and then too busy sleeping.

It's Gonna Be a Fun Evening

Yesterday, I started feeling icky. Headache, sore throat... you know, classic you need to get more sleep signs.  What began as a simple headache escalated last night into fever and body aches. I couldn't sleep so I spent most of the night staring at the ceiling and dreading today's visit to the pediatrician.

Not that the pediatrician isn't a nice guy. He is. Very nice. But he serves a purpose today that, while important, is probably the worst part of being the parent of an infant.

Shots.

Stinker gets her first shot today. I say shot, singular, because she's only getting one at a time. Probably the second of her Hep B series (she got the first one at the hospital), but I'm not really sure. I want her to get the shots first for the stuff she's actually likely  to encounter, like measles and whooping cough, rather than the ones she'll probably never come up against, like polio.

I don't want to vaccinate at all, but Jake wants to. I was never vaccinated as a kid, and I was never sick. Like, literally, never sick. I got the chicken pox and that was about it. I'm a big weenie now about being sick because I never was as a kid.

I read a lot of articles regarding the vaccine debate, and all it does is make me worry more.

Will Camille have an allergic reaction to the shot?

Will Camille develop long-term problem because of the shot?

If I don't vaccinate, will Camille die from some disease that's preventable with a shot?

There are traditionally two camps to the vaccination debate: pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine. More commonly though, people are falling into a third camp: pro-some-but-not-all-at-once. That's where I fall. I don't want Stinker to get polio, but I also don't want her to get autism (if indeed shots even cause autism, which they may or may not).

I read this article and many of the comments, and it reinforced what I already thought.

No more time to dwell on this. The time has come. I'm about to go antagonize a doctor will my hysterical-emotional-momma diatribe about how vaccines are purely the machinations of corporate pharmaceutical America trying to squeeze more money out of the ignorant public.

Camille's New Activities

I have a "holiday pictures" post that I'm saving for when it's closer to Christmas, but I've definitely been taking bunches of pictures of Camille as she starts to do new things.

Like wrestle stuffed whales!

And referee football in her sleep!
(Touchdown!)

And enjoy a trip to her (very) local aquarium!

And plot world domination from her
supersweet pink baby seat!

So that's what Camille's been up to lately, never mind her advances in almost-rolling-over and the plethora of new sounds she makes.